


i've got you under my skin

by MementoMoriPontifexMortis



Series: Charmed [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - 2000s, Alternate Universe - Charmed (TV) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Gen, Implied Relationships, Magic, Witches, cameos by ancient rome and germania, keep an eye on those two tho in this series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MementoMoriPontifexMortis/pseuds/MementoMoriPontifexMortis
Summary: Several days after their first demon fight together, the girls must face a demon who is going after women and who has set his sights on Liisa and Amelia.





	i've got you under my skin

**Author's Note:**

> it has been over a year since i wrote the first one. i legitimately have nothing to say for myself, how could i? the only good thing is that i can say that i've plotted most of the season one episodes and have gone on to plot out seasons 2, 3 and 4. i'm sorry to anyone who liked the first one and wanted to see where i was going with this. 
> 
> i've made minor edits to the first one, so go back and read that if you need to. they're really minor so you won't really notice them. any mistakes are mine because i'm posting this before getting this checked out by my beta. i hope that it won't take me as long to write episode three.

“You invited them where?" Ema asked, leaning on the bar, her face stern as she stared at Liisa. The younger girl smiled and turned away from her, giving a smile to the guy she had been talking to a moment before. The guy wrote his number down on her palm before walking away, Liisa giving him a smile as he did so.

“Emeliija Väinämöinen,” Ema growled, drawing attention to them. “You invited who where?”

Liisa turned to her, glaring as she did so. “You just full named me,” she said, her voice shocked and annoyance inching in, “Ema, you can’t just full name me out in public, you know the rules.”

“And you can’t just invite people over without telling me,” Ema argued, leaning back and sighing. From the kitchen she heard a crash, causing her to close her eyes in annoyance. “Sit here and don’t move. I have to go yell at the chefs first.”

Liisa stuck out her tongue as Ema stalked off, her angry muttering drowned out by the sound of the busy crowd. She knew that her cousin wasn’t really that angry at her, she liked the Kirklands as much as Liisa did herself, but she was overworked by her boss leaving and her being stuck with everything. Though Liisa knew that once Ema was at home, she would be able to unwind and stop being so angry. If only she would hurry up.

Walking around the bar, Liisa poured herself another drink, smiling at the man who worked behind the bar. She had began to show up more and more at her cousin’s place of work since they had found out they were witches. She often brought books and would read them while sitting in Ema’s office, only popping out whenever she found something in the books that she thought Ema might like to learn. Though the books had been a bit helpful in discovering things, Liisa hadn’t been able to find anything else about their family heritage besides the most basic things.

It was one of the reasons that she had sent out an invitation to the sisters. She wanted to see if they knew anymore about their shared family heritage. She also wanted to see them again. Though she had talked to Amelia on the phone several times since last week, they had mostly talked about their childhoods and how they had actually met and interacted when they were little. Liisa was surprised, but at the same time, she wasn’t. They were family and according to what she had been reading, magical family always ended up circling each other – something about souls being connected to other souls.

Ducking back to her seat as she heard the kitchen door swing open, Liisa smiled at her oncoming cousin, ready to dissuade any argument Ema had about the sisters being invited over. “Hey.”

“Back to our conversation,” Ema said, sharply. “Why would you invite them over? I like them as much as you do – trust me I do – but inviting them over means dinner and dinner means me cooking and me cooking means me having to figure out my already hectic schedule. It’s bad enough that my boss has called to tell me that he’s staying in France for the next six months, but now I have to contend with this?”

“Ema, we can just order out or something,” Liisa said, hand on her cousins’ while shaking her head, “You don’t have to show this super-competent person all the time.”

Ema gave her a droll look, “We’re going to talk about this when we get home – go get your things, I’m going to my office and I’ll be right back.”

Liisa smiled, giving her cousin a sweet look before walking back to her table. She grabbed her purse and black coat, moving towards the entrances. She turned towards the kitchen doors, accidentally bumping into a man. “Oh sorry!”

The man, tall dark and handsome, gave her a suave smile. “It’s no trouble, Miss,” he replied, giving her flirty eyes. “You know, you are beautiful.”

“Oh, thanks,” Liisa said, a light blush rising on her cheeks, it wasn’t often that she was called beautiful – cute, yes, but not beautiful. “I’m Liisa.”

“Stefan,” he said, holding out his hand, ducking his head slightly. “I’m Stefan and it’s nice to-”

Ema cut him off, coming up from behind her, “I’m sorry, she would love to get to know you, but as someone she’s wronged, I have to yell at her,” she said, giving Stefan a fake smile while Liisa frowned, glaring slightly. “Don’t worry though, she’s here almost everyday, you can see her tomorrow; let’s go Liisa, I’m not done.”

“You are the worst cousin known to man,” Liisa muttered, her eyes turning to try and spot Stefan as she was pulled through the front entrance. “I could’ve gotten laid.”

“Meet people at your own workplace,” Ema shot as she moved to unlock the driver’s side, looking in the backseat before throwing her purse on the seat. “Oh, wait.”

Liisa sighed, rolling her eyes as she slid into the car, “You sound like Eliza.”

Her cousin shook her head, blonde pieces of hair flying out as she did so. “And you sound like your teenage self.” A sigh, “Look, Liisa, it’s not that I don’t want the sisters to come over, I do, but I just wish you would give me more than a few hours notice – what if I get called back into work for some reason or other?”

Liisa gave Ema a small smile, “I meant to give you a days notice, but I didn’t get to my email until this morning and then I was off looking for a job,” she rolled her eyes again, this time more good-naturedly, “I am sorry.”

“Aw,” A voice crooned from the backseat, causing Ema to swerve to off to the side, slamming her feet on the brakes to stop before hitting the sidewalk. “Whoa!”

They swerved their heads to stare at the back, noticing the shock of white hair first before fully taking in the sight of the sister’s whitelighter sitting in the car with them. “Gilbert?” They asked at the same time.

“Are you kidding me?” Ema grumbled as Liisa grinned. “Are you trying to cause me to crash my car?”

Gilbert rubbed his nose, “No, the girls asked me to find you,” he replied. “When they showed up without a warning, Elizaveta suspected that Liisahad planned something without telling anyone else.”

A small sheepish look crossed Liisa’s face. “Oops, looks like Eliza didn’t get my note.”

“Looks like,” Ema deadpanned, starting the car up again. “Well, you can tell them that we’ll be home shortly.”

Gilbert saluted them before orbing away.

“I have a feeling I’m going to hate when he does that,” she added after he was gone.

* * *

Elizaveta sighed as she fell into her seat, she had just given Amelia and Madeline a tour of the attic before leaving them to check out their magic supplies up there. She had found Rosa in living room, looking at the photos on the wall, smiling to herself. Most of the pictures were taken by their grandfather when they were younger, showing moments of when they acted more like siblings than cousins - to be expected, her grandfather had said one day when Elizaveta brought it up to him, they had been all but raised together.

Her brown eyes followed Rosa as she wandered to a photo of her, Ema and Liisa standing in front of the house from a few years back, bright smiles on their faces.

“Gramps took that before he passed,” she said, probably interrupting whatever thoughts the other woman was having.

Rosa turned to face her, frowning slightly. “Huh?”

Eliza stood up and walked over, picking up the silver frame. Her eyes roamed over the picture, taking in the still forms as she thought back to the day it was taken. “It was about a year before he passed away; Liisa was going away to college in New York soon, I was moving out and he wanted a picture of all three of us together.”

“We have a similar picture; different story though." Rosa sighed as she took in the smiling cousins. "We had been fighting when we got our picture taken, Grams wanted to have one before we all went our separate ways. We stood feet away from each other and it was the worst photo we ever took together; none of us wanted to be in it and we argued all the way up to the photo actually being snapped.”

Eliza hummed lightly but before she could say anything, the front door opened and Liisa’s voice called out “dinner’s in the house!” as they walked to the dining table. Light footsteps could be heard coming down from the attic area as Elizaveta placed the photo down and lead Rosa through the sitting room to the dining room.

“How was work?” Rosa asked Ema as she began pulling plates out of the small butler’s pantry in the hallway between the kitchen.

Ema looked up, shrugging as she did so. “Busy,” she replied, placing plates and silverware on the table. “I just need Chef Epine to come back so I can go back to what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“You’re back!” Amelia squealed as she flew down the final steps, “Me and Maddie was up organizing your magic supplies and Maddie has a list for you.”

Liisa laughed brightly, reaching out to wrap the other blonde in a hug. “I missed you!”

“You've talked over the phone every day this week,” Madeline pointed out, as she walked into the room. Ignoring them both, she shook her head with a smile before she grabbed a plate and started getting dinner.

Both blondes shook off Madeline’s words as the others moved about the dining room; Ema handed both Rosa and Elizaveta plates before she followed Madeline in making a plate for herself, Rosa swatted Amelia on the shoulder, motioning her to grab something to eat before sitting down right across from Elizaveta, eating as she listened to both Madeline and Ema talk about the restaurant Ema had been managing. A second later, both Amelia and Liisa grabbed themselves food, talking as fast as they could in between bites about their week – as if they hadn’t seen each other in forever.

Sighing, Rosa shook her head before leaning in slightly to speak to Elizaveta, “How’s work?”

When she had found out that Elizaveta was going to be taking the job at Buckland’s - the place Rosa had left - she had been worried.Ever since Rex had started working there, she had gotten a feeling that something was wrong. But it wasn’t like she could just tell Elizaveta to not take the job there, especially since the other woman seemed perfect for it.

“Pretty good,” Elizaveta said, nodding slightly as she took a bite of her food. “It’s not exactly my dream historian job, but it’s a step.”

Rosa nodded, smiling. Historian, she could see Elizaveta as that. “Well, be careful,” she said after a moment, “I don’t know if it’s because I’m paranoid, but I only quit because Rex gave me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Well, if anything happens, I know I can call you then,” Elizaveta teased lightly, before adding, “But no, I should be fine; he doesn’t weird me out at all.”

The conversation quickly continued from there, right up until Gilbert orbed in, dropping a kiss on Madeline’s lips before sliding into a seat and picking at her food.

“Sorry, the Elders needed to speak with me,” he said before changing the conversation as quickly as he could, “Any leftovers I can have?”

Ema stood up and grabbed a plate, handing it to him, “I feel like you should have a bell for when you _sparkle_ in here.”

“_Orb_, it’s called orbing,” he said, piling his plate with the leftover food, ignoring the sound of Amelia laughing. “I don’t _sparkle_.”

“Well, there should be a warning,” Ema said, shaking her head before turning back to her conversation with Madeline.

By time they had all finished eating, the clock was nearing midnight and Liisa, joined by Ema and the twin Kirklands, were begging to have a sleepover. Rosa shook her head as she walked from the dining room to the kitchen, handing her plate off to Madeline. “Gilbert can just orb us home, it’s fine.”

“That’s true,” Elizaveta said, coming up behind her, “but you can’t argue that having a sleepover doesn’t sound wonderful.”

Rosa gave her a look, one that said she expected her to agree with her, before nodding, “Fine, we can stay the night.”

The younger girls cheered, Amelia and Liisa running off from the kitchen to the attic. Elizaveta sighed and turned towards Ema, “Can you..?”

“We got this,” Ema said, smiling lightly. She grabbed the rest of the dishes off the island, “Go, the linens are in the hall closet near the main bathroom.”

“Come on, I’ll need help getting all the blankets,” Elizaveta said, dragging the other woman out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Up the stairs, they both could hear the giggling coming from Liisa’s room, the sound of Liisa’s television a low murmur under their voices.

“You could’ve helped!” Elizaveta called as she turned towards the main bathroom. Shaking her head, she turned to look at Rosa, “So, how have you been?”

“Fine,” she answered, “Is this why you dragged me off alone?”

Elizaveta blushed lightly, “Is it that obvious?” she asked.

She had been hoping to go for casual, but she had never really been a casual type of person; both Ema and Liisa had always told her that her personality never suited being casual; too hard headed, too motherly, too battle ready, too much of everything that made her _her_ but that was why they loved her. She handed Rosa a stack of blankets as she waited for a response.

“A little,” Rosa teased gently, before shaking her head. She seemed truly touched by the worry that Elizaveta seemed to have for her more subdued behavior. Sighing, she continued, “I had a date yesterday.”

“Oh?” Elizaveta brightened, it had been forever since anyone talked seriously about dating; both her younger cousins had kept themselves off the dating market in mourning for their grandfather and she had left a bad relationship with her former partner at the museum she had worked at. “Did it go well?”

“Depends on what you think is well,” Rosa answered, hands playing with the blanket in her hands.

Elizaveta took the hint and led them to the room that used to be their grandfather’s study, one that they had turned into a guest bedroom for those rare times that they had visitors. Last time the sisters had stayed over, she had given Rosa this room as it was the warmest and the one closest to the main bathroom.

Settling the blankets down on the bed, Elizaveta started making the bed while she waited for Rosa to continue.

The dark haired woman sighed, dropping the blankets she held in her hand on the chair close to the window before dropping down herself. “It was with my ex-boyfriend… and former best friend.” A moment passed before Rosa added, “We slept together.” in a very soft voice.

“Ah,” Elizaveta paused, her face sympathetic. She wasn’t sure how to comfort the other woman in a way that was comfortable for both of them – their personalities were similar and Elizaveta wouldn’t want someone she wasn’t extremely close with hugging her so she doubted Rosa would. Sitting on the half made bed, she gave the Rosa a small smile, “That sounds like it sucks.”

Rosa laughed lightly, “It does,” she began, before shaking her head, “I feel so _stupid_ for sleeping with him – I mean, I lov-loved him when we were younger but with all that’s going on, I don’t want to pull him into this stuff.”

“Well, I mean, you were a witch when you first met him, right?”

“Yeah, but he never knew and back then I thought I was going to be a Charmed One, so I knew that I couldn’t be with him so I kept our relationship loose and fast, but now...” Rosa trailed, her thoughts muddled. Now that the Charmed destiny didn’t rest on her and her sister’s shoulders, the idea that she could just be a normal witch and have a normal relationship was probably not something that she had come to terms with.

Elizaveta sighed, “I wish I could help you, but the last time any of us dated, Gramps was still alive.”

Rosa looked up, “You’re kidding right?”

“No,” Elizaveta shook her head, frowning slightly. Her failed relationship at the museum was the last time she had dated and that had started long before their grandfather health had started to decline. “I broke off an engagement a month after he died, Liisa had relationships while in New York, I’m sure of it, but they ended when she came back for the funeral and Ema hasn’t dated seriously since high school.”

“Wow,” Rosa laughed lightly, shaking her head as she did so. “Well, I’ve finally found people worse at dating then me and my sisters.”

“Hey!”

* * *

“They should not be interacting,” Claire said, her voice the epitome of calm and serenity but Gilbert was sure there was some form of judging underneath it. “The Charmed Ones must be free from negative influences.”

“The sisters aren’t negative-”

“Their feelings towards following the rules are far from positive and as such, they could influence the Charmed Ones down a negative path,” An Elder named Gideon interrupted, “It is bad enough that the Charmed Ones are witnessing your illicit affair with Madeline Kirkland, but to interact and have them in their house is far from good for them.”

Gilbert felt his hackles rise, “The girls and the Charmed Ones are family, I can’t just separate them.” He tried to argue, but they weren’t listening. At least, the ones that hated him weren’t.

“Perhaps we should take their memories of each other,” Gideon posited.

Claire shook her head, “We could accidentally erase the memories of their destiny.”

Watching as they ping-ponged ideas off of each other, Gilbert tried to control his anger. The fact that they truly believed that the sisters would somehow affect the Charmed Ones’ goodness was absurd; that they thought his charges – and Madeline, the nicest woman he had ever known – could somehow turn the cousins from their destiny… Gilbert shook his head.

“Perhaps we remove the sisters from their sphere of influence,” Another Elder that Gilbert couldn’t remember spoke, “If we move the sisters from their home-”

“The sisters aren’t going to leave San Francisco,” Gilbert cut in, finally having enough of the words being spoken about his charges and their family. “It’s their home and they’re never going to leave.”

“We’ll take their memories-”

“Enough of the fighting,” the Elder Romulus said, walking towards them. The man cut an imposing figure, if only he wasn’t the most useless Elder, Gilbert figured. Behind him walked the Elder Ulrich, silent and imposing himself.

“We will not be taking memories,” Ulrich said. Turning to look at Gilbert, he continued. “It is up to you to keep the sisters from messing with the Charmed destiny.”

Opening his mouth, he went to speak but he was cut off by Romulus, “Gilbert, go protect your charges, we can deal with your transgressions at another point.”

Gritting his teeth, he nodded and orbed away. The Elders watched him go before turning back towards each other to continue their conversations.

“You aren’t serious, are you Romulus?” Claire asked, worry evident in her eyes. “The Kirkland sisters being in contact, close social contact, with the Charmed Ones could have disastrous effects.”

“I know Claire,” he answered, giving her a grin, “Ulrich and I have already planned for that so don’t worry.”

* * *

Morning came much quicker than either Amelia or Liisa thought it would, the chirping of birds awakening them what felt like only minutes after they placed their heads down to sleep. The Book of Shadows sat on the edge of the bed, pages open to a random spell that Amelia and her had been looking at.

“Why are birds sitting outside your window, screaming at us?” Amelia asked as she moved to hide her head under her pillow. She had meant to go back to her room with Madeline, but after she heard Gilbert orb in and not orb back out, she opted not to. “There weren’t this many birds last time.”

Liisa laughed as she turned in the bed, pushing her blankets off her, “Do you want to borrow something of mine?” She asked as she moved to her dresser.

Amelia groaned from her place on the bed before pushing the blanket away from her and dragging herself off the comfortable space. She hated mornings, unlike her sisters who could wake up like a person in a sleeping aid commercial, and preferred to sleep late. Of course, she often had arguments with Rosa about that, but that was a thought for another time. Instead, Amelia rose from the bed and moved to stand near Liisa, reaching into the drawers alongside her cousin.

Or well, second cousin or something like that. Amelia wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but she was calling Liisa her cousin to her friends she still talked to. Not that she had many of those.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she put her attention back to picking something out. Liisa had already grabbed a stripped crop top and moved onto the bottom drawer, looking for something specific if the way she was rifling meant anything. Moving shirts around, Amelia rooted around the drawer; Liisa had such a similar – yet very different – style of clothing to her. Crop tops and jeans that could’ve been in Amelia’s own dresser were in abundance in Liisa’s room, but so were things that Amelia had never even thought of wearing; colorful winter sweaters patterned in ways that reminded her of her Grams’ sweaters, skirts that were just a tad too long for Amelia’s own tastes and shorts – so many shorts – that were of a length.

Shaking her head, she grabbed a simple gray lightweight sweater and a pair of thigh-length shorts, before following her cousin out the bedroom and towards the second bathroom while Liisa walked into what Amelia was sure was Elizaveta’s room and towards the master bathroom. Downstairs, Amelia could hear Maddie and Ema in the kitchen, the sound of a television playing the early morning news, and the rustling of what she could only assume was the morning paper, and every sound brought a small ache.

She had always wanted a big family – not that she had a particularly small one, even if most of them were non-corporeal ghosts – and it seemed as if Liisa and her cousins were fulfilling that dream of hers. Elizaveta seemed as if she was a cool older sister-like figure and wouldn’t try and act like her mother like Rosa did; Ema was a chef and that was always cool to Amelia, and she also seemed like another sister type of person who Amelia could lean on without getting judged for it, and Liisa… Well Liisa was basically like a second twin for her; they were as close as Amelia was with Madeline when they were younger.

Not that she wasn’t close with Maddie, but Amelia knew that when she had left for New York City for college, a small divide had grown between them.

Stepping into the shower, Amelia quickly bathed as she and Liisa had made plans to hang out for the day, both looking for jobs. Liisa also told her that she’d be dragged along as they dropped leftover food from Ema’s job to a church that their Grandfather had taken them to, but after that they could go do whatever they want.

A knock sounded on the door.

“I’m going to be downstairs, ‘kay?” Liisa said through the wood, “Em’s making breakfast with Madeline.”

“I’ll be down in a bit!” Amelia called back and listened as Liisa walked away, the soft footfall noise disappearing halfway down the hallway. Turning her thoughts from her more depressing ones, she focused instead on the day she had ahead of her and spending more time teaching Liisa how to handle her powers.

For the most part, Amelia had gained great control over her ability to call up premonitions and she hoped she could teach Liisa. Or at least start teaching her. She also wanted to take Liisa to the shop in Chinatown that had some of the best herbs and was run by a witch who Amelia had grown friends with.

Stepping out of the shower, Amelia quickly got ready and wrapped a towel around her head before heading downstairs, smile on her face. At the kitchen breakfast table, Rosa and Elizaveta sat talking about things they both had planned for the day and Maddie was talking with Ema over by the kitchen sink, low murmurs drifting over from the news that played.

“Hey, Em?” Liisa asked as she poured them both a cup of juice, “Can we borrow your car today?”

Ema turned slightly, lifting an eyebrow as she did so. “What for?”

“We wanna head into Chinatown,” Amelia answered, smiling and hopeful. “There’s a place that sells herbs and magic supplies and since me and Maddie wrote that list for your supplies, I want to restock it for you.”

“Fine,” Ema sighed and shook her head, “But don’t forget we’re delivering the food to the Church today and you-”

“I know,” Liisa said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “We’ll be back before then.”

“And one of you will have to drive the van back to the restaurant for me, I’ll pay you.”

This caused Liisa to turn in her seat, “I thought Abby did that for you.”

“Abby quit last moment because her new beau works in Maine and you know I don’t like driving the van so please,” Ema said forcefully, downing the last bit of her coffee, “Bad enough I’ll have to drive it there.”

“Maddie can do it,” Amelia cut in, smiling brilliantly as she did so, “Maddie used to work at a cafe that delivered and she used to drive their van.”

“Amelia!” Maddie cut in, glaring at her sister.

“Can you?” Ema questioned, stopping the twins from glaring at each other. She looked hopefully at Madeline, “I can pay you for your time.”

“Yeah, I can do it,” she said after a moment, “What time do you need me to show up?”

Ema hummed, “I’ll need to set out by eleven, so maybe 10:30-ish?”

Madeline nodded, “I can do that,” she replied. 

* * *

Chinatown was, as always, covered with people, Amelia thought to herself as she and Liisa walked the streets, bypassing store after store. Not that she had been to Chinatown in awhile. Looking for a job had been a priority, if only to get Rosa off her back.

“Oh my god,” Liisa muttered, pulling Amelia out of her thoughts and out of the main street.

Following Liisa’s eyes, she noted that they were focused on a man that Amelia was sure that she had seen before but could not place. Looking back towards Liisa, she saw a small blush rising.

“Okay, who’s he?”

Liisa lifted an eyebrow. “His name is Stefan,” she answered as she looked back at the man, face gaining a dreamy look. “I looked him up and he’s a famous -”

“Photographer, oh yeah,” Amelia gave the man a hard look, nodding gently as she did so. “Where did you meet a famous photographer?”

“L’Opera.”

Well then, Amelia was just going to have to spend more time there, wasn’t she? She thought to herself as she grabbed Liisa’s hand, “Let’s go say hi.”

“What?” Liisa pulled on her arm, pulling Amelia to a stop, “Why would we do that?”

Amelia gave her a look, shaking her head as she laughed lightly, “To say hi.”

The look Liisa gave her back was one of confusion, but there was no argument towards her words and so Amelia took it as she could start walking towards Stefan again. Not that she needed to as it seemed that during their little struggle, Stefan noticed Liisa and had begun walking towards them.

Liisa quickly patted down her hair and brushed off imaginary lint from her clothing.

Amelia thought it was adorable.

“Liisa, right?” Stefan said as he stopped in front of her, smile stretched across his face as he took her in. His eyes turned towards Amelia, “And who’s your friend?”

“Oh, um, my cousin, Amelia,” Liisa answered as she snapped back into thinking. After a moment, she added, “It’s nice to see you again, I was thinking Ema maybe ruined any chance I had.”

“I would’ve gone back to the restaurant to see if I could find you, don’t worry.” He leaned in faux-conspiratorially, smiling as he did so, eyes watching Liisa’s cheeks deepen. His eyes flitted over to Amelia, “I’m amazed.”

Amelia cocked her head, confusion on her face. “What do you mean?”

His eyes were on Liisa as he spoke, “Well, your family has amazing bone structure, I can see some resemblances between you two - just like I had seen resemblances between you and your cousin last night.”

“Oh,” Liisa nodded softly, “Well, our genes are just really strong, my Gramps always said that.”

“Well, he was right,” Stefan lifted a hand, gently brushing it against Liisa’s cheek. “Your family is quite beautiful, and I’ve seen some great beauties before.”

Liisa giggled slightly, a soft lyrical noise that had Amelia on the verge of rolling her eyes. Yeah, he was hot and all, but like really? Shaking her head slightly, Amelia pulled her mind back to the conversation as she watched Stefan reach into his pocket, pulling out a little white card.

“I’m going to be here for a few more days,” He handed the card to Liisa who looked at, lip between her teeth as he continued to speak, “I’m shooting a few more shoots and before I wrap up, I’d love to get a picture of you two.”

_Oh._ A small blush rose on Amelia’s cheek as she nodded in tandem with Liisa; he was flattering and sweet - his looks just added to his full package.

“We’d love to,” she answered before she meant to, eyes darting from the card to the man to Liisa who was looking at her in surprise, “I mean, we can show up tonight, if that would be good?”

Stefan’s smile grew, “I’d love that.”

Neither of them spoke, instead nodded their goodbyes to the man and watched as he left. As soon as he was out of earshot, Amelia squealed, jumping up and down slightly as she did so. “He’s so _dreamy_!”

“I know right?” Liisa tried to pass herself off as calm and level-headed at the moment, but Amelia could tell else.

Smiling lightly, Amelia shook her head, looping her arm in Liisa's. Liisa giggled as they started to walk again.

“Are we really going to go?”

Amelia nodded, “There'd be no reason not to,” she replied.

“What about the others?”

Her nose wrinkled as she screwed up her face; it wasn't that she wanted to lie to her sisters - or force Liisa to lie - but she doubted that anyone would be happy about them going for a photo shoot. Especially not one at night. Amelia knew if she went to Rosa and asked if she could, she'd get a lecture on why that was too dangerous.

“We can tell one person,” Amelia said, “but not Rosa or Maddie, I'll get lectures to death.”

Maybe Gil would keep it a secret.

“Ema won’t lecture us,” Liisa said as they stopped in front of a store. “And if there's a problem, she'll come pick us up.”

“Ok, yeah,” Amelia opened the door to the store, motioning for Liisa to head in. A young boy looked up from his phone, nodding his welcome to them as they walked in.

“Amelia, did Maddie not just, like, come in?” He asked, leaning against the counter.

“Yeah, though I'm not here for me,” Amelia answered, moving towards him. “This is Liisa, she's my cousin and-” she moved in really close, “- _charmed_.”

Liisa's eyes widened, just like the boy at the counter. He looked from both of them over and over again before speaking.

“Well, hi,” he said, “I'm Leon.”

“Leon's mom was a friend of our mom and dad,” Amelia explained, thinking about Ms. Chun, Leon's mother who had watched them while they were younger. “How is she?”

“Fine,” Leon answered, waving her words off, “She's, like, off collecting new herbs with my sister.”

“Ah,” Looking towards Liisa she added, “Don't worry, Leon's family are like witch protectors or something.”

Leon rolled his eyes, giving her a look, “Those are whitelighters,” he shot, before turning slightly towards Liisa, “My family are witches but my mom comes from a line of witches meant to protect Pandora's box and my father's lineage are mortal protectors of witches. We run safe houses for the magical community and help hide magic from the mortals.”

“Wow,” Liisa breathed, “that's amazing.”

“Are you guys here for your herbs?”

Liisa nodded, pulling out the list that Maddie had written the night prior, handing it over to Leon. The boy, though he was only a few years younger than Amelia and her twin, let his eyes roam over the crumpled paper, humming and hemming at the words written. Nodding his head, he motioned for them to following him as he jumped over the counter, leaving the register alone.

“Basic spell casting herbs are, like, down here,” he said as he pointed towards a heavily scented aisle before he passed by it, “And the candles are, like, in the back, I’ll get them though - I’ll throw in some of the specialty candles, Mom will like that; she’ll also want to stop by to cleanse your house and, like, introduce herself.”

Amelia watched as Liisa nodded, waving at Leon’s back as he walked towards the stockroom. Grabbing her arm again, Amelia led her cousin back towards the aisle they were pointed towards. “Maddie usually does this, but it’s not like this place has changed all that much.” 

* * *

Ema was checking her watch once again, Madeline noted as she watched the blonde move from the end of the church’s driveway back towards the van and her. She sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest and – Madeline frowned – pressing her nails into her lower arms.

“Sorry,” Ema shook her head as she moved away from the van, “I’m going to go tell the Pastor we’re here and then I’ll be back to help unload.”

Madeline nodded her head, pushing herself out of the driver’s seat and towards the back of the van as Ema left. She had figured that her sister would be late; it would be a surprise to her if one day her sister showed up early - or even on time! - somewhere.

The doors to the back of the van opened, letting the wafting smell of food hit her. Earlier, she was worried that driving Ema would cause her to lose time on searching for a job, but in truth, hanging around L’Opera had given Madeline some much needed energy. She had missed the hustle and bustle of a restaurant, and even if she hadn’t been doing much to help besides occasionally taking plates to tables whenever it seemed the waitstaff was having trouble, it had still felt nice.

The noise of car doors slamming in tandem pulled her out of her thoughts and she turned, looking at where Amelia and Liisa were walking quickly forward, looking as sheepish as ever. Giving the best disapproving look, she opened her mouth, only to be beat out by -

“Emeliija Väinämöinen, you are late!” Ema stood right next to the van, the pastor standing next to her, arms crossed over her chest. Her cheeks reddened as she glared, “I ask of you one thing -”

“Em, we’re sorry it’s just -”

“ - and you can’t even -”

“ - the streets were busy and I ran into -”

“ - show up at the right time -”

“ - that cute guy from yesterday -”

“ - oh, _of course_ you’re late for a cute guy, c’mon Emeliija, -”

“ - stop calling me Emeliija!”

“Ema, Liisa,” The Pastor cut in, giving them both benevolent smiles, “Remember what your grandfather would say.”

“That when promising something to someone, you actually do it?” Ema shot, pursing her lips as she did so.

“That sometimes it’s important to take the stick out of your-” Amelia covered Liisa’s mouth before she could finish it as Madeline stifled a laugh.

The Pastor gave a small sigh, “That sometimes a little lean way is needed when dealing with family,” he answered. Turning to face Ema, he continued, “A few minutes late is nothing, all that matters is what you do today.”

The area seemed still thick with annoyance before Ema sighed and Liisa looked down to the ground, a much softer sigh escaping her lips. “You’re right,” Ema and Liisa said at the same time, smiling when they noticed they did that.

“Now, why don’t you introduce me to these lovely two that you’ve brought here?” The Pastor asked.

“Family, actually.” Liisa answered, pointing to each as she introduce them, “Madeline and Amelia are our cousins, like somewhere along the family line.”

“Well it’s always nice to meet family, no matter how distant.”

“Yeah,” Ema gave him a smile, “We’re going to start bringing this stuff in, why don’t you check to make sure everything’s set up, okay?”

The Pastor nodded, giving them all gentle smiles before he left. The girls all waited until he was out of sight before attempting any conversation. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, I’m just so overwhelmed,” Ema said as she moved towards the van.

“Well, I’m sorry for being late too,” Liisa smiled as she moved to unload one of the dish platters, giving a contrite look. “We got caught up in the store - it’s so amazing, Ems, there’s so much!”

“It really is!” Amelia cut in, grabbing a dish off the rack. She sniffed the plate for a second, “Wow, okay that smells great. What even are we doing with all this food?”

“It’s all leftovers for the homeless or elderly or poor or whatever other services the church decide to use it for,” Ema answered, “I think this month it’s for the homeless, but really anyone could just walk in the church for a free meal.”

Amelia gave a half smile while she shrugged, “Cool.”

The group worked quickly, aided by a few of the church workers, until the trays of food were gone. The Pastor thanked them as the last tray was taken into the building before he left them to themselves. Madeline sighed, moving to sit on the bumper of the van, “Why do you guys do this?” she asked as they rested.

“Our Gramps,” Liisa replied as she moved to sit next to her, pulling her legs up to her chest and leaning her head on them.

“Gramps used to make food for the church and when I got my job at L’Opera, I figured we could also send them the leftovers we got,” Ema added as she pulled her hair up, eyes scanning the street. Her eyes lit up as she spotted a small market stall across the street, “Hey, Liis, go get me a newspaper.”

“Ugh,” Liisa said as she dropped to lay on the van’s floor, “No.”

“Come on, please,”

“No,” Liisa covered her head with her arms, “I’m tired, send Amelia.”

“Just because Amelia’s a similar name to Emelija, doesn’t mean I should just send her in your stead,” Ema said, rolling her eyes, still she turned to the other blonde, “Though will you?”

“Sure,” she said, “I love being helpful.”

Madeline harrumphed, but Amelia ignored her, watching as Ema pulled out a twenty and told her, “Get what you want, it doesn’t matter, I just need a newspaper, keep the change,” before she grabbed her flip phone to call the restaurant.

As she began to walk away Amelia could hear as Liisa and Madeline began to talk about their day. Her mind drifted away from the mundane task in front of her and towards the argument that she and Rosa had had nearly two days ago. Rosa had, once again, pointed out the fact that Amelia was jobless and that she needed to get a job. Her hands tightened against the money in her hand. Normally, she didn’t really care about what Rosa said, but this time, their argument had cut deeper than she had let on. But she pushed those thoughts away as she made her way to the stall.

The stall owner smiled to her as she walked up, moving quickly to grab the newspaper that Ema wanted and a small bottle of Coca-Cola. She ignored the old couple who stood off to the side of the cashier, speaking in low tones to each other. Giving the owner a smile of her own, she placed her items down on the counter, quickly grabbing a pack of gum as the man began to add up her total.

“Should we use the grand kids birthday?” She heard the old man say to his wife, her eyes drifting to stare at them. They gave her a smile, holding up the lotto ticket they were speaking about, “It’s a ten million jackpot. Who knows, today could be a lucky day.”

_If not_ hung heavy in the air.

Her hands drifted towards a blank lotto card and right as her hand brushed against it, the world _flashed_ away and a screen began to show her the numbers they - and she - desperately wanted to know.

“4, 16, 19, 30, 32 and 40,” Amelia listed off, her eyes glazed over. The couple beside her scrunched up their faces as she blinked away the premonition, gasping slightly. Flashing them a quick smile, she said, “Those are the winning numbers, trust me mister.”

The stall owner rolled his eyes, “This everything?” he asked as he began to pack her stuff in a bag.

Amelia shook her head, “I’ll take one of these,” she said as she grabbed an empty lotto ticket and handed it to him. Once more, she repeated the numbers, “4, 16, 19, 30, 32 and 40.”

With the lotto ticket folded up and placed in her back pocket, she left the old couple behind and smiled to herself. She knew that Rosa would yell at her about _personal gain_ but Amelia was sure that this wasn’t that. She had been brought to the stall to help the nice old couple and her family.

With only one person on a semi-stable job - Rosa was only just starting out as a photographer and was still being paid by the photo - they were lucky that the house mortgage was paid for and that they still had money in the bank to pay for the multiple bills that they owed. Though even she, who her sisters still mocked for dropping out of college, could understand that they were walking a thin line. Unless they all got steady jobs, their money was going to run out and they were going to be screwed.

_Not with this lotto ticket_, Amelia thought to herself as she crossed the street again, with it, they’d be fine and dandy.

“What are you smiling about?” Madeline asked as she neared the van.

“Nothing,” Amelia answered as she moved to hand Ema the newspaper, watching as the blonde quickly set to looking through it, “What do you need a newspaper for?”

“Horoscope,” Ema answered offhandedly, “I’ve got to see if I’m cursed.”

Amelia watched as Liisa rolled her eyes and shake her head, “You’re so crazy sometimes,” the girl said as she moved to sit up, “Anyway, we’re going to go, okay?”

Ema nodded her head, “Will you be by later tonight?”

Liisa smiled as she went to hug her cousin, “Yeah, we’ll see you after some more fun day of window shopping,” she replied, giving Madeline a small hug as well. “Drive safe, love you.”

“Same,” Ema said as she moved away, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” 

* * *

Rosa crossed the street quickly, holding her jacket close to her as she spied a car sitting inconspicuously across from her location. Her eyes narrowed as the driver turned his head and she spotted the face of the man inside - _no, _she thought, _Aleixo is not following you._ She figured he would be; he had been blowing up her workplace phone since she had slept with him and then snuck out.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she followed the crowd of people heading into L’Opera, moving off to the side to spot Elizaveta as soon as she entered. Her eyes scanned the restaurant floor, stopping on her sister instead of Elizaveta. Amelia sat at a table with Liisa wearing what looked to be a _very_ expensive dress. How the hell could she afford something like that when they were struggling with money echo, Rosa thought as she moved through the crowds.

“Rosa!”

She turned slightly, pulling a smile on her face as she watched Elizaveta come from the bar. With her brown hair pulled away from her face, she looked far more stern than normal, but that was quickly defeated by the large smile she wore. Rosa gave a nod of her head in greeting before saying, “Sorry I’m late, photo shoot ran late.”

Elizaveta waved her off, “No, it’s fine, I’m just glad you decided to come.”

“Same here,” Rosa said before she motioned towards her sister’s table, “So when did Liisa and Amelia show up?”

Elizaveta turned, eyebrows furrowing as she caught sight of them, “I didn’t know they did,” she replied as she moved towards the table.

Liisa caught sight of them first, her eyes flashing something before a bright smile overtook her face, “Stefan, this is my cousin Elizaveta and my other cousin, Rosa,” she said as they stopped in front of them, “Guys, this is Stefan, he’s a photographer.”

Every creepy guy who wanted to impress a girl was a photographer, Rosa thought as she turned her eyes to Amelia, “Nice dress,” she said sharply, “Where’d you get it?”

“It’s not yours, so why does it matter?” Amelia said, fake cheer heavy on her lips.

“It matters because you couldn’t afford, so what did you do.”

Amelia shot her a glare of her own, fiery and angry. “Do we have to do this right now?” she asked as she did so, “We’re trying to eat.”

“Liis, come to the kitchen, now.” Rosa heard Elizaveta say, moving to pull the blonde up from the table. Rosa motioned for Amelia to follow, adding a sharp, “Let’s go,” as she did so.

Amelia stood from her chair petulantly, basically stomping her feet and making faces as she did so and Rosa hadn’t felt so angry at her sister in years.

Well months.

Perhaps she was too hard on her sister, she always had been according to Maddie, but she had to be. First it was because they had a destiny and any sort of wild-child behavior that Amelia had portrayed could’ve damaged their chances at fulfilling it; then, as Amelia’s childishness continued, undeterred by anything that got thrown at her, Rosa felt disgruntled at the way her sister refused to grow up.

As they entered the kitchen, they noticed that Ema and Madeline were laughing over a small glass of wine they were sharing, the bustle of the kitchen lost on them. Rosa felt a smile tugging at her lips, at least Maddie was finding someone to open up to; the other girl had always had to play the uncomfortable role of middle child for her and Amelia.

“Liis, come here,” Ema called as she spotted them, “Madeline has been helping me and she found way for me to have _time_.”

Madeline laughed lightly, “All you needed was-”

“You!” Ema interrupted, laughing as she did, “I hate managing, I just want to cook.”

Beside her, Elizaveta crossed her arms, “I’m glad that you’ll have more time,” she said, though her voice was anything but, “Liisa’s hanging out with some guy.”

“Really?” Ema straightened up, “The cute guy from yesterday?”

Liisa lit up, “Yup, his name is Stefan, he’s a photographer,” she said, moving from Elizaveta’s side to Ema, only stopping at the withering glare that she was given by her older cousin. “And once again, Eliza doesn’t like my paramour.”

Maddie frowned, looking around the room, the middle child in her coming out. Rosa felt so bad for her sister, her life as a middle child always placing her in the way of arguments. Rosa wanted to tell her to not get in the way of whatever brewing argument that the others were going to have - especially since she wanted to yell at Amelia herself - but before she could, Ema opened her mouth.

“Understandable,” she said, frowning slightly, “You are quite terrible at dating.”

“Am not!”

Both Elizaveta and Ema rolled their eyes, “Everyone you date is some form of a degenerate,” Elizaveta said, moving out of the way of a returning waiter. “And where did you and Amelia get such expensive outfits? I know they didn’t come from your closet.”

“Well no,” Liisa began, frowning slightly, “We went window shopping - and then real shopping.”

“With what money?” Ema asked, shaking her head before she moved off to scold one of the chefs.

“I want to know that as well,” Rosa said, taking the moment to insert herself into the conversation.

Since childhood she had always felt like such an outsider among her sisters; twins were closer together than an older sister who acted more like a mother, yet it still stung. With the cousins, she felt less like one, Elizaveta was much like her but more personable, and the other two seemed a tad more responsible than her sisters, making it easier to interact.

“Look, let’s just say that I’ll be able to in a bit,” Amelia smiled brightly, winking slightly.

Rosa crossed her arms, “You didn’t,” she said, face screwing up in anger, “You used your powers for personal gain?”

“Personal gain?” Liisa asked, confusion etched on her and her cousins faces, “What’s personal gain?”

“It’s not personal gain, I got sent the premonition,” she argued, “And don’t act like you don’t use your powers either.”

She frowned deeply, “Of course I do, but we’re not talking about me. Plus I don’t use it to… what? Play lotto games? Bet big? What did you do this time?”

Amelia shot her a look, anger marring her face. “If I did, I did because you went ahead and quit your job like an idiot,” she said caustically, “I mean, who quits their job when no one else has one in the house?”

Rosa gasped - so did Madeline - and reared back, as if she had been hit. She couldn’t believe Amelia was trying to pin their money trouble on her, as if she had wanted to quit. She opened her mouth, ready to yell at her sister for her naivety and general awfulness, when the kitchen doors swung open, admitting a very familiar gentleman.

“Aleixo?”

Ema frowned, “Who’s this?” she asked her voice several octaves higher, right as he bumped into one of the waiters carrying plates, causing her to throw out her hands, freezing the room. “Oh no.”

“Calm down,” Madeline muttered, moving to help calm the girl down.

“No, no no, not now, please not now.” Rosa watched as Ema move away from the group, worry in her eyes as she tried to flick her hands and unfreeze everything. “I can’t deal with this during rush hour,” she muttered.

“Why didn’t we freeze?” Liisa asked as she watched her cousin walk away.

Rosa tried to give her a small smile, “Good witches don’t freeze,” she replied.

Her eyes followed Madeline and Ema, her ears straining to listen to their conversation, though she got the gist of it being, “calm down, everything will be fine,” reminding her of the first time Madeline had frozen a full room of people. “How long does this usually last?” Amelia asked Liisa who shrugged.

For the first time since the argument began, Rosa let her eyes drift to Elizaveta, watching as the dark haired girl frowned at everything. Her silence was strange - perhaps she’s thinking about the photographer? Rosa thought as she continued to watch her - but no, Elizaveta’s eyes were downcast, as if she was trying to figure out the secrets that life held.

Moving from her spot, Rosa peeked her head to watch dining area, frowning as she watched a tall, dark skinned man weave himself around the people. “Okay, we’ve got a problem,” she called, “I think, I think Aleixo’s partner is coming in.”

“Oh great,” Ema moaned from behind her, “We’re going to be burned at the stakes.”

She ignored her and turned her attention to Madeline, “Can’t _you_ unfreeze the room?” she asked.

Madeline shook her head, “No, we have different triggers for it, different motions as well. She uses both hands, I use one and make less of a flick motion and more of a flicking-wave motion,” she answered, “Come on, Ema, you can do it.”

Liisa nodded, “You’ve gotta think less,” she said as she moved to grab onto her cousins’ arm, “Just stop thinking.”

“I can’t just turn off my brain like you,” Ema shook her head, “No, wait, sorry, I’m just -”

“Em,” Elizaveta said as she moved to stand in front of her, “Think about the room unfreezing and then flick your hands,”

Ema took a deep breath as Rosa moved back to her position, ignoring Aleixo and ignoring the fact that Amelia was still glaring at her. “This is on you,” Amelia mouthed angrily. She shook her head as Liisa and Madeline moved back into their places right before the room unfroze.

“Rosa,” Aleixo said right as the door opened and his partner walked in, “Sadık, I thought I had five minutes.”

Sadık, his partner, frowned. “I gave you ten,” he replied.

“I’m sorry Inspectors, but this is a full kitchen,” Madeline said as she moved to usher them out, “Nice to see you again, Aleixo.”

“Yeah, sure, Madeline, nice to see you again too,” he said as he followed his partner out, confusion across his face as he did so, and they all took a moment to breath.

Ema moved to leave, “I hate being a witch,” she said softly as she left the kitchen, Madeline moving to follow.

“You might want to give her a moment,” Elizaveta said, moving to wrap her arm around her shoulders, “Good job on calming her down though.” 

* * *

Liisa waited a full two hours after getting home before she made her way up to Ema’s room, only to be surprised that her cousin wasn’t in there. She ignored Elizaveta’s room, knowing that the other was definitely asleep already and instead made her way up the stairs to the attic.

Ema sat on one of the old love seats that had made its’ home in the attic long ago, her back on the armrest and her legs pulled up to hold the Book of Shadows in her lap as she flipped through it absentmindedly. Only a few times had she ever Ema look so morose, the worse was when their grandfather had died and Ema was so lost, especially knowing that Liisa was leaving to go study in New York. Though now, while she didn’t look as sad as she had that day, she did look confused.

“I always wanted to be a witch,” Ema said as Liisa made her way over, sitting right next to her and pulling her legs up to her chest, “I remember wishing I was one and pretending to be one.”

“I remember you telling me that if we were witches, we could use our magic to right the wrongs,” Liisa said, smiling slightly. “You said we could use it to protect our loved ones and-”

“And now that we have powers, I keep freezing my workers.”

Liisa held back a laugh, “But we can protect innocents now, we can save the world and -”

“Liis, get your head out of the clouds for a moment,” Ema said sharply, frowning as she did so, “We’re going to have evil hunting us for the rest of our lives, we’re never going to know peace. Madeline told me that Amelia’s last boyfriend was a warlock hoping to cash in on them being the Charmed Ones and tried to kill them, only for it to fail. That’s how they found out they weren’t charmed anymore, because a warlock told them and _still _tried to kill them.”

“Oh,” Liisa frowned herself, Amelia hadn’t told her that. Honestly though, she hadn’t thought for too long on how the sister’s had found out they weren’t charmed or found where they lived; it was a side thought to everything. Shaking her head, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, “Em, what does that have to do with anything?”

Ema gave her a small look, a strange one, before shaking her head, “You wouldn’t understand Liisa, you see this as a great opportunity; an adventure that you’ve been waiting for your entire life finally coming true,” she looked away, shutting the Book, “What if this leads to us dying like our parents? Or turning evil? Or any number of things.”

“Are you saying you don’t want magic?” Liisa asked, moving to grab the Book out of her hand and placing it on the nearest surface - an old wooden set of drawers that sat behind the couch - before she grabbed Ema’s hands, “Ema, look at me, come on, we’re going to be fine, we always are. We’re strong, especially together, and in no way would Elizaveta allow either of us to die.”

“But what if she can’t help it? What if she dies first?”

Liisa shook her head, pulling Ema into a hug. She understood that fear, she still felt it when she thought too hard on what the Elders had done to their parents just so they could have Charmed Ones who weren’t also half-whitelighter, but at the same time, she thought on how being witches had brought them together with more family. And while the sisters were obviously dysfunctional, so were they.

“Liza’s not going to die,” she said into Ema’s hair, “I won’t let her, just like I won’t let you or anyone else I care about die, okay?”

Ema sniffled before she nodded, pulling away to wipe at her eyes. Liisa knew that in a few minutes she would be back to pretending that everything was fine, pushing down her fear of losing everyone, but she didn’t mind it. It was what Ema did and it would be what Ema would always do. “Sorry,” Ema muttered as she brushed her hair back.

“What brought this on?” Liisa asked, hoping that she could get to the root of her cousins’ problems before she could push her away slightly.

Ema shook her head, “Stupid things,” she replied before changing the subject, “Were you looking for me for a reason?”

Giving a small shrug and letting the subject drop, Liisa said, “Well, y’know that photographer?”

Her cousin nodded, “The one you were eating dinner with, right?”

“Yes, him,” A small smile graced her face as she thought of him, though dinner had been cut short a bit by everything, she could still remember the compliments and sweet words he said to her as they ate, even pointing out the ways her and Amelia looked similar while implying that she had a whole unique look to her - something that not many did. She was either told she looked nothing like her cousins, mainly Elizaveta, or that she was of a similar state as them, usually Ema. It didn’t bother her too much, but hearing someone tell her all the ways she was her own had been nice.

“Oh, look at that, you’ve got a blush,” Ema smiled brightly, “Whatever he did to make you blush, I like him already.”

Liisa waved her off, “Well, he’s only going to be in town for a few days more and he wants to take pictures of me-”

“_Pictures_?”

Oh, oh no. “Not those types of pictures, like modeling types.”

Ema’s face had soured slightly, an arched eyebrow and a slight frown, “Are you sure?”

“Well, he asked both me and Amelia, so I hope so,” she joked, letting her tone belie her feelings. They weren’t wrong earlier, she did have crap luck dating, usually finding herself with crap people, but she wasn’t planning on dating Stefan, at least, not yet. “Anyway, he asked if he could and I said I was free, tonight.”

“Tonight?” Ema’s voice had taken on an ice tone, both motherly, in it’s sharp disappointment, and sisterly, in it’s utter distrustfulness. Only Ema had ever managed to make her feel like she was talking to both a mother and a sister at the same time; it was always disconcerting. At least Elizaveta managed to stay in one category during a disagreement. “Let me guess, I’m to be your alibi for if Elizaveta asks anything?”

“She’s asleep,” Liisa shot before she could help herself, “And please, I really want to do this.”

With her lips pursed together, Ema shook her head, “I wish that you would just come to me and talk to me about boys, instead of always coming to me and placing me in the middle of these things. You know how this is going to look to Elizaveta if this goes wrong; I’m going to get in trouble yet again for enabling you to make bad decisions.”

“You know I’m an adult, right?”

“Then why are you here?” she asked and Liisa knew that she was right. She always headed to Ema, hoping that when something inevitably went wrong with what she was doing - because somehow, it always seemed to be a matter of _when _not _if_ \- she could lean on the other to help temper Elizaveta’s disappointment. She knew what trouble it caused Ema, but for some reason, Elizaveta always forgave Ema more easily then she did forgive her. Favoritism, she was sure of it.

Sighing lightly, Liisa replied, “Because if something does go wrong, I want to be able to call someone and you’re the only one who’ll keep it a secret and not tell Elizaveta.” And in the case of Elizaveta finding out, she would be the one be able to calm her elder cousin down.

Ema shook her head before sighing herself, eyes rolling as she stood up. “Fine, but only because I worry about you - probably more now that you’ve got another partner in crime,” she said as she moved to put the Book up.

Liisa jumped up, wrapping her arms around her cousin, stopping her in her path. She squeezed her and laughed as she did so. “Thank you,” she said as she laid her head on Ema’s shoulders, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank-”

Her cousin laughed with her, arms gripping the Book tightly, before she shook her head slightly, “Let go, I need to put this up,” she said, smiling as she extracted herself from Liisa’s arms.

Once the Book was back on its’ pedestal, Liisa grabbed Ema by the arm. “Come help me pick something out,” she said as she began to make her way out of the attic, “I want your input.” 

* * *

Madeline watched as Amelia walked out the front door, throwing some kind of excuse over her shoulder as she did so. If she were really interested, she’d’ve stopped her twin in her steps to ask her what she was doing but at the moment, her eyes were too busy checking over her resume once more. She didn’t think that she had a chance to get the job - too many places wanted someone with 10+ years of kitchen experience, which she definitely didn’t have - but it was better than waiting for one of the other places to call her back.

Sighing as she set it down on the table, Madeline wished that she’d be able to get a job. At the current moment, she’d take anything that paid at least a little bit well. Pushing those thoughts away - and pushing herself up from the couch, Madeline moved towards the front door to get her keys. “Rosie, I’m going out for a bit,” she called as she opened the front door, listening for Rosa’s mumbled reply.

Hearing a soft “Bye, be safe,” from the kitchen, she closed the door, moving towards the street to where her car was parked. As she did so, she wondered if she should’ve given her resume to Ema. She was always told to use the in’s she had when it came to making it in the culinary career. Then again, she thought as she drove, she barely knew the other woman; just because they were related didn’t mean that Madeline felt comfortable enough to basically just ask for a job. Though, she being who she was, she wouldn’t feel comfortable asking Ema for help getting a job even if she had grown up together.

Flipping the radio station, she tried to find one that wasn’t playing Justin Timberlake or Christina Aguilera, finally settling on one that was counting down the hottest hits from the 90s. As she drove and hummed, she thought about the argument that had happened earlier; most of her thoughts drifted towards her feelings towards it, how embarrassed she felt while Amelia and Rosa had argued their way all the way home - even after they had promised not to before leaving L’Opera. She mostly hated the fact that their fight had caused, in a rather circular way, Ema to freeze the entire kitchen.

In her eyes, it seemed as if they were doing everything they could to push their cousins away.

But she tried not to think like that. Her sisters were always at each other’s throats, ever since they were kids: Rosa would act like their mother, telling them what to do, how to behave; and Amelia always chafed at that, it was bad enough that their Grams was strict, she didn’t need an extra mother. Unfortunately, Madeline had constantly found herself playing Switzerland in their fights: trying to remain as neutral as she could, though she was sure that the nation had been much more successful than she had been.

Turning down the nearest street, Madeline let those thoughts flutter away as she focused on trying to remember exactly what she had been planning on saying while handing over her resume.

“I hope you can think of…” She sighed heavily before shaking her head. No, that sounded stupid. She always sounded stupid. She gave half silent replies to every interview questions, except for the rare times that she was able to summon up enough courage to speak clearly, and that didn’t even cover how she hated her resume. On and off jobs at places that were not culinary - mostly for the year out of school, so she was often forgiven for that - and then the rash amount of jobs she went through thanks to the places she worked at going bankrupt soon after she started working there. Honestly, she felt very discouraged sometimes at trying to get a job.

With her car in parked across the street from the small bakery she had grabbed an application for, Madeline took a deep breath before she exited, her shoes making a small sound as they met with pavement.

“If you get any openings_,_” she started the spiel she was planning on saying, “you can just call me at-”

Her resume fell out of her hand as she bumped into a little old lady. Madeline groaned, “I am so sorry,” she started as she bent to grab her paper, stopping at the sight of the tattooed hand in front of her. Something about it was familiar, she thought as she squinted against the fake light of the streetlight.

“...Brittney?” she said, remembering her sister’s friend who’s hand also held a tattoo, very similar to the one that decorated the old lady’s hand. Straightening up, she looked at the woman fully, taking in what she looked like, “It can’t be…”

“You know me?” The woman said, her voice throaty. “Is that my name?”

Oh my, Madeline thought as she moved closer to her. Her eyes darted towards the bakery before they drifted back towards the old woman. Steeling herself, she nodded her head, “Yes,” she replied, “And I’m going to help you.”

Madeline motioned for the woman - it was Brittney, it had to be. She doubted there were many old women walking around San Francisco with a tattoo of an angel on the back of their hand - to follow her, taking her to her car and getting her seated in the front passenger seat, buckle around her chest, before she pulled out her cellphone. She dialed the house phone as she got into the car herself and buckled up, hoping that Rosa would pick up instead of letting the machine do so.

“_This is Rosalinda Kirkland, who is this_?” her sister asked.

“We’ve got a problem,” she started without any greetings, “I found Brittney and she’s _old_.”

“Old?” Her sister sounded disbelieving. “What does that mean?”

Madeline sighed, her eyes going towards the old woman who sat genially staring out the window, “I mean, she looks like an old lady, like she’s been aged by many years.”

Silence from the other end of the phone before Madeline heard steps and she could invision Rosa going from the entry hall up the steps and towards the attic where their Book of Shadows sat. Though it wasn’t as big as the one at their cousins’ house - given that that one was the one that had been passed down their familial line since the beginning, it was to be expected that it’d be a large one - it was still fairly full though Madeline wasn’t sure that it would have the information they needed. She had a sinking feeling whatever was done to Brittney required a Power of Three spell.

The soft sounds of paper turning was quickly followed by Rosa speaking, “Old,” she started, “Anything else?”

Madeline turned back to Brittney, who smiled at her before turning to stare out the the window again. “Old,” she repeated, “She doesn’t seem to have any memory of who she is.”

At least, she didn’t think she did.

A few more seconds of silence before Rosa let out a heavy sigh, “No, can’t find anything.”

“Maybe the Book will have answers,” Madeline suggested softly, turning down a street that wouldn’t take her home. The bakery street was a little further from the cousins’ home then their house was, so she was sure that Rosa would get there first.

“Maddie, I checked the Book-”

Or not. Madeline cut her off, “Not our Book, the _main_ Book of Shadows.”

More silence.

“Madeline it’s nearing 10 in the night, we can’t just appear out of nowhere-”

“Then we’ll call first, but this is obviously a witch problem and they are the Power of Three, we very well may need them,” she replied, her voice strong. Brittney was a friend of hers as well - maybe not as good a friend as she were of Amelia’s, but Madeline liked the girl and seeing her senile, affected by magic that they didn’t know, worried her.

“Fine, I’ll meet you there,” Rosa said after a moment, sighing heavily again. “I’m going to call their landline to see if any of them are up before I leave so don’t do anything stupid before I get there.”

“I’ll contact Amelia and try to get her to meet us there as well,” Madeline said, smiling to herself.

“There’s no point, we don’t need her,” Her sister’s sharp voice said, and Madeline could just imagine her stopping in the middle of the hallway, frown placed heavily on her face. “Like you said, we’re not the Power of three.”

“Rosa…”

Her sister cleared her throat, “I mean it, just make your way to the manor, I’ll see you there.” The phone clicked off, leaving Madeline in a quiet car with the old woman. Well, she figured now would be the best time to figure out what Brittney actually knew.

Amelia hummed along with a song playing on the radio as she watched Liisa turn down another street, getting them farther and farther from the city. Her eyes furrowed as Liisa pulled to a stop at a slightly run down warehouse, lights in the window near the top of the building. “Are you sure this is the right place?” she asked as Liisa unbuckled herself, pulling at her purse from beside her.

“Yeah, of course I am,” Liisa said, looking up at her, blue eyes bright as she did so, “It’s a little rundown but I think it’s nice; y’know, artistic.”

Amelia lifted an eyebrow, shaking her head as she did so. “Right,” she muttered as she quickly unbuckled herself and followed Liisa out the car. Her cousin carried a small garment bag in one hand - ‘What if I need to change,’ she had said when Amelia had asked about it, ‘I like being prepared’ - and her purse in the other while she, herself, carried nothing.

She looked around the empty lot, frowning as she did so. There was something off about everything, she thought, the place was far too away from the rest of the city. “Hey, Liisa-”

A loud clatter cut her off and Amelia turned to face the door, where Liisa was just a second ago. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“Liisa?” she called.

No answer. Amelia walked towards the door, perhaps she had opened the door and walked in, but the second her hand touched the doorknob, she gasped loudly.

She saw -

Her hand dropped and she turned, rushing towards the car, only to be stopped as a hand wrapped itself around her mouth, cutting off her scream. 

* * *

“It’s a little late, but it’s nice to see you again,” Ema said as she opened the door for her, moving aside as Rosa walked through, “I had to wake Eliza up - she’s upstairs flipping through the Book - before Madeline showed up, but she’s probably going to say the same.”

Rosa doubted it, but still she offered her a small smile, “I’m sorry about this.”

But Ema shook her head, “If it’s as serious as Madeline seems to think it is, it’s something that we need to be involved in,” she said.

Of course Madeline had already explained the situation to them, Rosa thought as she unbuttoned her jacket and hung it up, following Ema up the stairs after she did so. And of course Madeline had gotten there before her even though by all accounts, Rosa had been closer.

That was on her though. Rosa had felt awkward about showing up in the middle of the night, even if it was about something as important as Madeline made it out to be. They didn’t know the cousins well enough. Hell, they had only met a week ago!

Swallowing her discomfort as she walked into the attic, she forced a smile back on her face. “Have we found anything?” she asked.

Elizaveta looked up, “Sorta,” she answered, “At least - actually no, not really.” The dark haired woman forced a sigh, “There’s so many pages of _demons_ and everything, and reading every page is tiring.”

“I told you,” Ema said as she moved to sit on an old couch, “I could do it while you make yourself some coffee.”

“You also said you’d keep Liisa in tonight.”

An uncomfortable silence followed with only a small huff from Ema to interrupt it for a moment. This is why Rosa hated showing up to people’s houses, especially at night. People did most of their arguing late at night - at least, in their family, they did. Her parents had. Her Grams had.

“I’ve got coffee,” Madeline said as she walked in, an old serving platter in her hand. As she caught sight of her, she perked slightly, “Hey, Rosie, finally.”

Rosa offered her sister small nod of the head, “How’s, um, what’s her name?”

“Brittney?”

“Yeah, her - how is she?” Rosa felt bad that she hadn’t remembered the girl’s name, but honestly, she never knew any of Amelia’s friends.

Madeline put down the platter on an old table - everything up here was old, Rosa thought as she reached for a cup - before answering, “I’ve got her eating some oatmeal downstairs, but during the car ride, I got nothing from her. She’s either blocked out the entire memory of what happened or she’s senile and can’t remember; either way, I don’t think we’re going to get any help from her.”

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, so they had hit a dead end. “We’re back at square one then.”

“Unfortunately,” Madeline said, moving to sit next to Ema, “I don’t know what to do, I’m sure that it’s Brittney, she has the tattoo -”

“A lot of people have a tattoo,” Rosa said, frowning. Her sister shot her a look, but she continued on, “I’m sure it’s her too, Amelia told me that Brittney had a special tattoo on her-”

“The back of her hand,” Madeline cut in, “But she’s old.”

“Old as a symptom,” Elizaveta muttered, “Senile, probably comes from being old, come on book, give me something.”

Desperation was bleeding into her voice as she said this and Rosa understood it. A week and a day ago, they were normal; probably Elizaveta’s only problems were work and taking care of her cousins, but since they barged into their life, it was demons almost every time they met and witch talks and --

Honestly, she could understand. It was a lot to take in, far too much in such a short period of time. If the cousins had opted to instead pull away from them, Rosa couldn’t blame them. Yeah, it _felt _like there was a connection of some sort between them the morning after their first demon fight, but that didn’t mean that they had to deal with their new life right away.

It didn’t mean that they had to be fine with being witches right away.

Or perhaps, she thought as she moved to stand next to Elizaveta, the cousins were fine and the confusing desperations was her own.

It would make sense. For her entire life she had been raised thinking she’d be Charmed, but she wasn’t, she was just a normal witch. No destiny holding her down to a certain lifestyle.

A loud thump pulled her from her thoughts as her sister asked, “What was that?”

“Brittney?” Ema offered as she stood.

A near comical look crossed her sister’s face and Rosa stifled a laughter as she watched both blondes quickly move through the attic door, rushing to get downstairs. She followed at a slightly slower pace with Elizaveta right behind her.

On the floor in the kitchen, an old woman – Brittney, even had the high cheekbones like the young woman Amelia had brought to her two weeks ago, to show off a tattoo and a story and, crap, this was serious – sat slumped against the fridge. In her hand was a small paper, a business card.

“Brittney?” Madeline asked softly, moving to place her hand on her the older woman’s shoulder, “Are you okay?”

“Ja-” the old woman coughed, her body shaking. “Ja-na.”

“Jana?” Ema muttered, eyebrows furrowing. “What’s Jana?”

Madeline wasn’t listening though, instead her hands had gone to find the pulse of the old woman, frowning concernedly. After a moment she said, “She’s got a pulse but it’s weak, I don’t know – could this be because of the demon?”

“Old age possibly,” Elizaveta said, shaking her head. “Jahna, that sounds _familiar_.”

Rosa frowned, “What’s that in her hand?” she asked as Elizaveta wandered towards the kitchen door to leave.

“It’s that photographer’s business card,” Ema replied, frowning as she pulled it from the old woman’s hand softly. Her eyes turned towards Elizaveta’s retreating back. “It’s where-”

“Jah-na.” Silence filled the room as Brittney croaked the name once more, fear and terror in her eyes as she did so.

“Liz, that’s where-”

“Liisa and Amelia went,” Elizaveta finished Ema’s words, turning from her spot near the door, a grim look on her face. “I’m going up to the Book, get her up to one of the guest bedrooms and then get ready, we’re going there.”

Ema nodded and started to move to help Brittney up as Elizaveta rushed out the kitchen. Madeline looked towards her and Rosa quickly nodded before she turned to follow Elizaveta up to the attic.

“Do you even have a plan?” she asked as she grabbed for Elizaveta’s arm before the other woman could make her way up the attic steps. “You can’t just run into this without-”

“If this Stephan is Jana then my only plan is to go there and kick his ass,” Elizaveta said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stopped in her steps. “I’m not going to waste time when Liisa could be under attack.”

“By not having a plan, you put yourself and your cousins in danger.” It was the same line, with very minor changes, that her Grams had said before, and it was the words that followed Rosa every time they had faced a demon or warlock.

“I put my cousins in danger every time I let them leave the house,” Elizaveta said, eyes hard as she spoke. “The world was dangerous without demons and magic and just like always, I’m going to protect them by doing whatever I need to.”

* * *

“Stefan, please,” Liisa pleaded as she watched the man pace around the red lighted room. Her hands struggled against the bonds holding her down to the table – which, by the feel of the light against her back, she figured was some kind of special light box or something - and her heart pounded in her ears, but still she tried to keep her cool. Her eyes drifted towards Amelia’s unmoving figure, hoping that the other girl was just unconscious and not-

No, she thought, pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she couldn’t think like that. Swallowing her fear, she opened her mouth again, “Please, whatever this is, we won’t tell.”

“Javna,” Stefan said, turning towards her, his eyes glowing. “It’s Javna.”

Liisa screamed, yanking at the ropes and beside her she heard a gasp. “Liisa, you okay?” Amelia’s groggy voice muttered.

Stefan – or, Liisa supposed, Javna – turned his head to face her and Liisa felt a surge of protectiveness rise in her chest. He was not going to attack her cousin, not even if she was bound to a table. Kicking her feet, she focused on making as much noise as she could. “Help!” she screamed, eyes wide in determination and fear, “Help! Please!”

Javna growled and started to stalk towards her, his hand outstretched when the door flung open. Liisa squinted her eyes against the bright lights of the world outside the darkroom, barely able to make out the sight of Elizaveta before Javna was tossed across the room. “Don’t touch them,” Liisa heard her say before Madeline and Ema came rushing forwards.

“You can’t,” she warned, her eyes searching out the others, “He’s-he’s a demon, don’t come any closer.”

Ema shook her head and continued forwards, quickly untying her hands. “It’s fine, we know,” she replied as she moved to help her sit and stand, “We’ve got the spell but we need you for it.”

Liisa stood, her feet wobbling a bit as she did so. She looked towards Madeline, Rosa now next to her to aid her in helping Amelia stand as well before nodding her head and letting Ema guide her towards Elizaveta. She grabbed her eldest cousin’s hand, leaning against her as she did so.

“You okay?” Elizaveta asked softly, leaning her head against her as well, “because we’ve got a spell to do.”

Ema pulled out a piece of paper and pushed it in front of her, “Read along now,” she said as Elizaveta held her hand up and began chanting.

“Evil eyes, look unto thee,  
may they soon extinguished be,  
Bend thy will to the Power of Three,  
eye of earth, evil and accursed! “

A beam of light shot from Eliza’s hand and met Javna’s face, the demon screamed loudly as it did so. Liisa watched as his body began to age rapidly before the skin seemed to melt away, turning to bones, then ash, right before their very eyes. Her stomach churned as she buried her face in Elizaveta’s shoulder. This was her fault; Amelia being injured, everyone having to come down here to save them. She never thought before she jumped into things.

“Hey,” Ema muttered, moving to hug her and kissing her head, “Don’t think like that.”

“You can mind read now?” Liisa sniffled into her shoulder, squeezing her slightly.

Ema chuckled, “I’ve always been able to read your mind, you know that,” she replied, moving to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “You’re not to blame, Liisa, you’re not. You thought you found a cute guy, it’s not your fault he was a demon.”

“But, I’m-I’m the reason Amelia-”

The other woman flashed her a quick smile, cutting her off. “I’m fine,” she said as she and her sisters came to stop next to them, “Just a little woozy.”

“Well, let’s get you home nonetheless,” Rosa said, frowning as she did so. “Gilbert can heal you if you’re not better by time we get there.”

“I’m so sorry,” Liisa said, darting her eyes away from the slightly older woman. “I’m-”

Rosa shook her head, “Like everyone says, you’re not to blame, Liisa. The demon is.” She moved forward, letting go of Amelia to lay a hand on Liisa’s shoulder, “This was a horrible coincidence, that he targeted you and Amelia, but it’s not your fault.”

Liisa nodded, forcing a smile on her face. She didn’t believe her – didn’t believe any of them – but she accepted that they wouldn’t let her take the blame. “Home then?” she asked, looking towards Elizaveta and Ema. “Delivery and ‘Tuntematon sotilas’?”

“Can’t we watch ’Kill It Before It Dies’?” Ema sighed, moving to grab a hold of her again, “’Tuntematon Sotilas’ is sad.”

“It’s wonderful,” Liisa argued, shaking her head. “Plus, me and Amelia almost died, I think we get to choose the movie.”

“What’s ’Tune-tey-may-tan So-tea-lass’?” Amelia asked, face screwed up as she struggled to pronounce the name. She crossed her arms over her chest as she followed them towards the door. “I’ve never heard of it before.”

“You wouldn’t,” Elizaveta said from behind them, her voice filled with mirth. Liisa could just image the smirk that sat on her cousin’s face – it was the same smirk she wore every time Liisa brought up one of her old Finnish films. “It’s from the 1950's and it’s a Finnish war film. Liisa loves watching it over and over and over and over -”

“Okay, they get it,” Liisa laughed lightly, “It’s a movie I’m very attached to.”

“At least when she found that film she stopped watching ’Kill It Before It Dies’,” Ema said, frowning slightly. Though she was still involved in the conversation, her eyes were anywhere but. Liisa turned towards the direction she was facing and frowned herself.

“Are those-?”

“The police.” Rosa pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. She shook her head, “We’ve no chance to get out of here before they show up.”

Liisa watched as the lights pulled closer, that nasty feeling in her stomach coming back with a vengeance. She had no clue why the police was showing up – perhaps someone had heard her screaming, but she doubted that – but she knew that they’d be doomed if they separated them and forced them to tell them what happened. It was hard to breathe, Liisa noted as she watched as a police officer left his car, followed by another.

“Rosa?”

Recognition dawned on said woman’s face and Liisa noted how Rosa had straightened her back. “Aleixo,” she greeted, nodding towards the man and his partner. “What are you-?”

“I could ask you the same.”

“Well, um..” She looked towards the rest of them and Elizaveta stepped forwards. “Liisa was borrowing Ema’s car, it broke down, we had to come to get them and Rosa came here to yell at Amelia, who didn’t tell her that she was leaving the house.”

“That true.” He didn’t look convinced but Liisa was sure that Elizaveta’s wide smile would keep him from pushing it too much.

“Absolutely, Inspector.”

He hummed and moved towards the old jeep, peering inside. “And what were you doing down here?” The question was very much directed towards her and Liisa pushed down on the rock in her throat to speak.

“A photographer called Stefan was supposed to take pictures of me,” Liisa replied, biting her lip as she did so. “He wasn’t here though and the car broke down and-”

“Do you understand how lucky you are?” Aleixo’s partner said as he moved closer, “The man’s a stalker and is a current suspect in multiple crimes.”

“Oh my god,” Madeline muttered, fear passing across her face. “Well it’s good that he’s not here then, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Aleixo muttered before he turned away from the car, “Rosa-”

“We should get going,” she said, cutting him off with a smile. Hesitancy was clear as day on her face, but she quickly added, “Call me later, we can talk then, okay?”

He smiled brightly and Liisa could see what exactly it was that Rosa saw in him: when he smiled, the whole area seemed brighter. “Okay,” he said.

Ema pushed on Liisa’s side, pulling her from her thoughts with a softly uttered, “Car now, I’ll drive,” before pulling her towards the green jeep and into the backseat. Amelia dropped into the spot next to her from the other side and Liisa watched from the corner of her eyes as the others piled into Madeline’s. “I am never going to let you out of my sight.”

“Ema,” Liisa began, getting cut off a second after the car started.

“No.” Her cousin shook her head, “Never. Neither of you, actually,” she continued, ignoring the shocked look on Amelia’s face as she spoke, “You are like a sister to me Liisa, you know that. I let you put yourself in danger by helping you dress up for a strange man that neither Elizaveta or I vetted. I should’ve know better.”

“Ema-” Liisa started again, only to get cut off again.

“I mean, I know that you have a bad judge of character when it comes to men – it’s a flaw, all of us have one: I can’t help but fall in love with everyone I see, Elizaveta can’t help but collect random strangers as stalkers, and you.. you fall for all the wrong people.” Ema met her eyes in the rear view mirror, “I should’ve been there to-to protect you or something.”

“Ema,” Liisa said sharply as she shook her head, “It’s not your fault either.”

“I know that.” Ema waved her off from the front seat, shaking her head. “It’s no one’s fault that Stefan turned out to be a demon. I meant more that I’m not going to cover for you sneaking out and going to meet people anymore.”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean it,” Ema replied, ignoring the utter look of betrayal on Liisa’s face. “I can’t risk it. This is the second time that I’ve covered for you and something bad happened. I’m not-I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“That makes no sense!” Liisa argued, sitting forward in the seat, buckle undone so she could argue. “I almost die and this is what your brain goes to! What the hell?”

“Liisa,” Ema said sharply, “Think about it from my point of view please. Two times I’ve lied to either Gramps or Elizaveta about where you went when it came to dating and both times you’ve been hurt. What if next time no one comes to save you?”

Liisa dropped her back to the seat, huffing as she did so. Her eyes flitted over to Amelia who sat with her head on the window and her eyes shut. Either she was really good at going to sleep during arguments or she was faking to give them some semblance of privacy.

Sighing, she ignored the way Ema tried to make eye contact and let her thoughts stew. She knew – at least, objectively – that Ema was always placed in such an awkward position when it came to Liisa and her bad habit of sneaking out, but at the same time, Ema had always done so without much complaint. And while it was true that usually Liisa only snuck out for parties or going over the friends that Gramps hadn’t liked houses, it was also true that the last time that Ema had covered for her when Liisa wanted to date some guy, it had ended…

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she frowned, “I get it,” she said after a moment. “I do and I’ll accept it, but, it doesn’t mean I like it.”

Ema seemed to sigh a sigh of relief. Another beat passed before she spoke though and what she said cut Liisa slightly, “My thing is, why date someone that you have to hide?”

* * *

Elizaveta pulled her legs up to her chest as she leaned against the couch, listening as giggling and low voices filled the house. Her hands clutched a cup that she had found at a flea market when she had been 12, Gramps buying it for her and telling her that the best things came to people in places they never expected.

“You look like you’re thinking really hard,” A voice said to the right of her. She turned brown eyes to meet the dark eyes of Madeline’s boyfriend-slash-Kirkland family whitelighter.

“Gilbert,” she greeted and motioned for the man to take a seat instead of standing in the living room’s entryway. “Didn’t you even learn not to stand in the in-betweens?”

Said man – or was he an angel? - lifted an eyebrow, moving to sit across from her. “What’cha thinking about?” He asked after a moment.

“Amelia’s lotto ticket faded away to nothing,” she lied, letting the first thought in her brain out. “Why?”

“Personal gain,” Gilbert answered easily, “she should’ve known better; she’s been a witch all her life and as such has been taught about it, but she’s a bit desperate.”

Elizaveta nodded, her thoughts storing away that bit of information for a rainy day. Gilbert continued to speak though and she forced herself to listen, only hearing the bit “But I doubt that’s what you’re really thinking about,” near the end.

He was right. She was contemplating. It seemed she was going to be doing that after every demon. At least, she was 2 for 2. Sighing, she smiled slightly. “My cousins are like my sisters,” she started, her voice soft as she did so. “And while I’m sure Javna was a coincidence, I… I doubt that they will _always_ be coincidences.”

“They won’t be,” Gilbert gave her a look, one she couldn't decipher. “Being a witch is dangerous, being a Charmed One is more dangerous.”

“And the Elders just think we’re going to be okay with that?”

“I don’t-I don’t think they think like that, Elizaveta.” Gilbert leaned back in the chair. “The Elders have to think about things in the long run – what’s good for a single witch, or in this case, a trio of single witches, matters less than the whole world.”

She figured they were that type, but hearing it put like that left a sour taste in her mouth. “Then-”

“You won’t be able to protect them all the time,” Gilbert interrupted, giving her a sad smile, “You just won’t be able to. You can try but by doing that, you’ll probably put yourself in danger more and -” He left it unspoken, but she heard it loud and clear. She’d probably fail and die in the process.

Looking down at her drink, she wondered if Gramps knew. She wondered if he knew that his grandchildren and grand-nieces were going to be drawn into all of this. Perhaps he had, she thought as she sipped the far too cold tea, he was always a major nag on family being everything. Perhaps he was preparing them for the future they had by reminding them that family was the one place where you could lean on each other and be accepted.

“To the Power of Three then,” she whispered into her drink, giving Gilbert a smile. Footsteps bounded down the steps and from the kitchen she could hear Ema and Madeline and Rosa preparing the snacks for the small living room slumber party they were going to have. “To the Halliwell coven.”

And if there was a hesitant look on Gilbert’s face as she said that, she ignored it gracefully.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, our darling elizaveta went there and i honestly think that's my favourite line!
> 
> anyway major development for our girls. for me this is my least favourite episode but i very much enjoyed writing it. developing the relationships this episode was my number one priority. i wanted to showcase how each of them are interacting together and show similarities with differences which make them who they are. not a lot of witchcraft in this episode, but a lot of feels! 
> 
> Tuntematon Sotilas is a 1950's - specifically 1955 - movie and it's about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War 2. It's based after a book and I watched the really old one and since the one I found was not in English and with no subtitles, I just focused on trying to understand what was going and still found myself crying. So it's sad. There is one that came out in 2017 ( also 1985) and those both have good reviews from what I read online. I figured that Liisa would love it though because it's a connection to her parents. 
> 
> Kill It Before It Dies is a movie made for the Charmed (1998) tv series and it's supposed to be a romance/horror film from the 1950's. So we can also see that Liisa loves old films. It's totally Gramps fault. 
> 
> tell me what you think! i love hearing from you guys!


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